 updated the market on the progress of its Zebediela project on Tuesday, causing shares to soar.){kind=link}
Botswana Diamonds (LON:BOD) updated the market on the progress of its Zebediela project on Tuesday, causing shares to soar.
The AIM-listed diamond explorer said its Vutomi Joint Venture in South Africa had been drilled on the Zebediela project and large diameter drilling was scheduled to commence in October.
In a statement, the company said geophysics had identified the size of the Kimberlite discovery at Ontevreden as a minimum of 100 metres by 70 metres.
The discovery had been approved by James Campbell, Managing Director of Botswana Diamonds plc and a qualified geologist (Pr.Sci.Nat), “a Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of Materials, Metals and Mining with over 31-years’ experience in the diamond sector”.
John Teeling, the Company’s Chairman, commented: “Intensive exploration is ongoing at our two main projects in South Africa, Zebediela and Ontevreden. At Zebediela the drilling has identified where best to site the Large Diameter Drill programme beginning in October 2017.
“At Ontevreden, geophysics has outlined the size of the previously announced Group 2 kimberlite discovery which is currently estimated at 100m x 70m metres.”
The company is primarily focused on Botswana, and is listed on the country’s AIM-market as well as the London Stock Exchange.
The company successfully uncovered a kimberlite mine in Botswana, notably one of only 20 hard-rock diamond mines found outside of the vicinity of Russia.
Shares in Botswana Diamonds are currently up 12.61 percent as of 10.27AM (GMT).
Elsewhere in the markets, construction company Ashtead shares (LON:AHT) rose over 5 percent in the wake of the destruction left behind after Hurricane Irma.
Ashtead has around 58 equipment branches across Florida, which could allow it to generate over $50 million to help with immediate disaster relief work.
Nevertheless, the company did note it was too early to “quantify” the impact of category five Hurricane Irma, which is amongst the worst hurricane to hit the U.S in history.